The Commanders entered Week 9 officially in now-or-never mode. Washington had but two wins entering Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
They were still in the mix despite an unreal rash of injuries to star players, due to a poor-playing NFC East.
They needed to start stacking wins, especially with a massive upcoming clash with the New York Giants next Thursday night.
That meant beating the super-talented (and also injury-plagued) Rams.
Washington was not able to do that.
The Commanders had a shot
to win at the end but came up just short in a 20-13 loss to the Rams at Northwest Stadium.
Let’s examine some key takeaways from Sunday’s clash with the Rams after watching it live:
Winning time doesn’t work
Washington entered Sunday’s fourth quarter all tied up with the Rams. That game status didn’t last long. Puka Nakua – the receiver was a Commanders killer – made a leaping touchdown catch to give Los Angeles its largest lead of the day, however slim it may have been.
It was a big moment for the Commanders to respond. They weren’t able to do that, coming up short on third down and then passed on a 58-yard field goal attempt for a punt.
The long ensuing Rams started working the clock against Washington as the clock dipped below six minutes. The Commanders didn’t have momentum on their side. They scored 10 points in the first two drives and just three points over the next seven.
That was not, well, great.
Jayden Daniels was able to work the ball into Rams territory, but then Myles Garrett struck. The Rams edge rusher — he had three sacks — flashed past rookie center Matt Gulbin for a huge sack and a 12-yard loss.
Daniels’ fourth-down pass was a deep that was a short and allowed former Washington first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes to knock it away.
Washington forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with roughly a minute left. Antonio Williams’ fair catch inside the 10-yard line left a long way to go. The distance was cut in half with a 41-yard gain Stefon Diggs. Washington couldn’t get much farther and ended failing on that final drive.
Defense continues creating turnovers
Say what you want about the Commanders defense and its’ frustrating inconsistency, but coordinator Daronte Jones’ offense has been good taking the ball away. The were ranked 10 with 1.4 turnovers created per game.
They did better than that on Sunday against the Rams.
The first one came at the end of the first half, when K’Lavon Chaisson punched the ball out and Nick Cross recovered it.
Cross generated another one in the third quarter, dropping into zone coverage and then leaping to intercept Matthew Stafford’s pass.
The bigger is that the Commanders score just three points off those turnovers, which kept this game tight entering the fourth quarter
Commanders (finally) start fast(-ish)
The Commanders have had serious trouble starting games well. That was the case against the 49ers, where they displayed their worst first-half performance of the season. They also came out flat against the Philadelphia Eagles before picking things up, leading Quinn to highlight his team’s quest to start faster and put together its’ first complete game of the season.
They got off on the right foot, with Jayden Daniels owning a perfect passer rating into the second quarter while leading two scoring drives. The first was promising but ended in a field goal.
The second was highlighted by a big screen pass to Rachaad White.
Receiver Van Jefferson punched it in against his own team to put Washington ahead.
They should’ve had a bigger lead, honestly, especially after Chaisson popped the ball free and Cross picked it up.
A Jayden Daniels fumble (on a zone read) two plays later ended a chance to go up two scores. The Commanders gave up another field goal to close out the half (not ideal but better than a touchdown), but still lead 10-6 entering halftime.
What were your key takeaways from Sunday’s Week 9 clash between the Commanders and Rams? Let us know in the comments below:
